Was Roy Jones overated ??

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Dance84, Feb 9, 2020.



  1. thanosone

    thanosone Love Your Brother Man Full Member

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    Nope. He was the truth.
     
  2. META5

    META5 Active Member Full Member

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    I don't think that the B-Hop that RJJ beat was green. From Nard's 5th pro fight you can see that he's got a good, solid skillset. Yes, of course, Hop got better but the green allegations, I just don't agree.
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2020
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  3. zadfrak

    zadfrak Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Certainly.
     
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  4. Bokaj

    Bokaj Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Pac and Floyd five time lineal champions? In what weight classes?
     
  5. Bokaj

    Bokaj Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    He was only two years at SMW and beat the best fighter in the division, so a bit much is made of the fact that he didn’t clean it out.
     
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  6. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    No, I'm not saying he should have cleaned it out. I'm just saying that he was complaining about the lack of challenges out there when there were fights in that division that were tougher than Eric Lucas. But he seemed reasonable content to have those kind of fights and then say there was no challenge for him.
     
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  7. Gatekeeper

    Gatekeeper Well-Known Member Full Member

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    An ATG specimen indeed perhaps the most naturally gifted boxer in history in terms of athleticism and reflexes with some very good wins but the nature of his career flatters to deceive.

    This has been done to death but his best wins are a weight drained James Toney who had gotten so many questionable decisions and struggled against average fighters at MW prior to Roy that that win is not as impressive in hindsight.
    A Bernard Hopkins who had achieved NOTHING when Roy beat him (in fact Hopkins had yet to beat a top 10 MW by that point) and only won a world title at MW 2 years later after all the top guys had moved up or gotten old.
    And of course the creme de la creme - Outpointing arguably the worst HW title holder in the division's history at that point and even the ref had been given special instructions to disallow any clinching or work on the inside.
    Everything in between those 3 wins are journeymen, contenders and has beens, some impressive but not what makes a career ATG.

    Was Roy capable of taking the real challenges, winning and going down as a legit top 10 ATG ?? I believe he was but he never took the risks, not all his fault but for me he was the first 'star' fighter who went out of his way to take the easy match ups, make excuses, pick up easy paydays and have fun playing basketball before fights and doing commentary on HBO.

    Benn, Eubank, Collins, Dariusz, Calzaghe, Hopkins at 175, Jirov, staying at HW and fighting some live bodies there etc. etc. all in his grasp and achievable but he wasted the best years largely, ruined himself by dropping back to LHW and never recovered.
     
  8. Bokaj

    Bokaj Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Liles apparently priced himself out and Eubank made quite clear he had little interest in Jones. Why Benn and him never met I don't know.

    But the window was pretty small as well.
     
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  9. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    Steve Collins?
     
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  10. Bokaj

    Bokaj Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    When Collins was through with Benn, Jones was already moving to LHW.
     
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  11. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    I agree that the window was small but I guess Collins was WBO titlist before he met Benn. If Jones was looking for a challenge, no doubt Collins would have obliged. I think Roy probably just thought he was on another level to everyone else and didn't see a challenge out there for him. I think he was right about the first part but Eric Lucas and the like were not the best available opposition. The Pazienza mismatch didn't help either with that perception that he could have pushed himself a bit harder during his prime.
     
  12. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

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    He beat the two greatest fighters in his generation that were within spitting distance of his division. And he had the same number of fights under his belt as B-Hop.

    Then you add Hill, Griffin, McCallum, Tarver and the underrated Johnson and you have an elite resume.
     
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  13. KuRuPT

    KuRuPT Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    If you have him no. 1-5 on your ATG fighters list, you may be overrating him a little. If you have him as an ATG, one of the best athletes ever in boxing, and have him 1-5 on your ATG h2h list at their peak.... you're not overrating him.
     
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  14. Loudon

    Loudon VIP Member Full Member

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    I never thought those ugly, end of career losses would tarnish Roy's legacy. But I was wrong. Those who saw Roy's prime know how special he was. But those who didn't don't appreciate him.

    I'd say that he's very much underrated by many of the newer generation of fans.

    You'd be surprised how many only know of him from the Calzaghe fight.

    If he was prime today, this thread would be RJJ24.com.
     
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  15. Dance84

    Dance84 Unicorn and seastar land Full Member

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    thats what im talking about a prime roy not a past prime
     
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